In Memory
by Usami
Summary: "Sometimes life leaves us no choice but to move on from the people we love, but that does not mean we stop loving, caring, and missing them." Unknown


This was just a weird idea I had after seeing the movie. I'm not sure how it came up, but once I got it into my head, it wouldn't go away. So I wrote it down, haha.

This takes place a few years after the end of the movie, so Sho is older here. I made a few assumptions while writing this; that Sho actually _survives_ for the next few years, that his aunt never married and that "Maki" is his mother's maiden name, that he took on said-maiden name after his parents divorced, and that he still loves Arrietty after so many years...but since it's anime, that's a given, hehe.

After all that, I hope the story's okay. Enjoy!

**In Memory**

"Kyaa!"

The cry was just loud enough to draw the attention of nearby students, allowing them to witness the girl hit the ground with a crash, scattering her stuff everywhere.

She groaned softly, more from embarrassment than actual pain. The landing actually wasn't that bad, but she wished people hadn't been around to see her fall. And here she thought the day wouldn't turn out too bad; even though she had woken up late, she still somehow made it to school before the bell. So she thought that her day would still be all right after all…but she supposed that was what she gets for running all the way from home to get to school…

There were whispers from the other students around, but they were quickly forgotten when another soft groan reached her ears. Surprised, she pushed herself up slightly and found herself looking down into startled brown eyes.

She gasped, sitting up to get off the person she had fallen on. As he sat up and rubbed the back of his head, her eyes widened when she recognized him.

"Maki-kun!" she exclaimed.

Maki Sho looked at her, slightly confused as he smoothed down his dark hair.

"Oh no…" she murmured, horrified. That she fell on _anyone _was bad enough, but to have fallen on _him_ of all people…! "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm _so_ sorry! I'm really sorry, Maki-kun! A-are you okay?"

He blinked, still a little surprised, but managed to nod. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied softly.

His answer eased some of her panic, but she still couldn't help but worry. After all, everyone knew about his heart condition, and while he had grown a stronger and healthier during the last few years, he still had to be very careful regarding his health. And she hated to think that she might have seriously hurt him when she fell on him, somehow undoing all the progress he's made. So she asked again, "Are you sure? You're not hurt or anything?"

He nodded again, granting her a small, gentle smile. "I'm fine," he assured her. Then he frowned, his eyes filling with concern. "Are you all right, though? What happened?"

She laughed a bit and looked away, letting her fingers brush against her beaded hair tie as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "It's nothing really…My shoe just broke, and I tripped…I'm okay, though."

She risked another glance at him and found him smiling. Then, without another word, the two of them began to retrieve their scattered belongings. Other students continued to speak with hushed tones, but while she wondered why none of them helped the two of them – or even checked to see if they were all right – she continued to ignore them as she and Maki-kun continued to sort through their items.

"Do you have everything?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied, straightening some loose papers. "How about you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it looks like everything's here."

She smiled, and the two rose to their feet. "That's good. And I really _am_ sorry about that."

He shook his head, giving her another easy-going smile. "It's all right. Accidents happen." He placed all his belongings back in his bag and gave her a polite nod. "Anyway, I'll see you around."

"See you," she echoed, watching for a moment as he walked away. Then, becoming aware of the gossiping students, she hurriedly stuffed her things into her bag and turned to her locker to put her street shoes away.

As she was slipping on her school shoes, however, something brightly-colored caught her eye against the dark tiled floor. Curious, she knelt down and picked up the item, looking over it and discovering it was a small pink clip.

She blinked as she held it in her hand, wondering where it had come from. But she didn't have long before the bell rang, warning that classes would be starting soon. She pocketed the clip and decided that she would have to wait until later to see if someone had dropped it.

* * *

><p>To her, it was strange that she suddenly couldn't stop thinking about Maki Sho.<p>

It was strange because she didn't really know that much about him. She had met him when she first moved into town some years ago, and they were schoolmates…but they were never in the same class, and so they've had very little interaction over the years. Much of what she knew was based on what she heard from other students; she knew about his heart condition, heard how he had always been in poor health since he was young, and how his parents were divorced and how his mother was always working. The few times that she _did_ talk to him, though, he was always nice to her. He did seem a little lonely, though, as though he kept people at a distance. And she felt sad for him, thinking about everything he had to go through, and worrying that he was doing so alone.

But she also knew that he had some kind of operation a few years back, and he seemed to have gotten a lot better afterwards. His health was still a concern, and he still had to be careful that he didn't overexert himself just in case, but for the most part he seemed to be gaining strength. She also heard that he was opening up to people more since then, and she was glad that, whenever she saw him now, he did look happier than he had before.

However, she also heard a few stories – mostly from other girls – about how Maki Sho often turned down girls whenever they invited him to go somewhere. He was polite about turning them down, but it was rumored that he rejected their offers because those girls wanted to confess their feelings for him, and for some reason he didn't want to have a girlfriend.

And somehow, because of that, a lot of _her_ friends thought that she and Maki-kun would make the "perfect couple."

She still didn't understand her friends' reasoning behind that. But apparently, her friends thought that she and Maki-kun were very similar, and so would be a good match for each other. Just because Maki-kun didn't want a girlfriend…and _she_ didn't want a boyfriend.

She shook her head slightly. Truthfully, it wasn't that she _didn't_ want a boyfriend. Ever since they all started their fourth year of middle school, and she listened to all her friends talking about getting boyfriends and dating in high school, she had to admit that she wasn't opposed to the idea…that she didn't mind the thought of falling in love and being with someone who she cared about, someone who cared about her. But while most of the guys in her class were pretty nice, she just couldn't imagine being in _that_ kind of relationship with any of them.

So when guys started asking her out, she couldn't be anything but honest with them, and had to politely turn them down. That's when her friends started telling her how she and Maki-kun should start dating, how the two of them would be so "cute" together. They lightly teased her about it, but she knew that her friends really meant well, and she easily ignored them when they mentioned it.

But she never realized that a lot of _other_ people thought the same thing…that other students noticed supposed similarities between her and Maki-kun, and thought they should be dating. At least she hadn't known until _today_; after her run-in with him that morning by the shoe lockers, a lot of other students apparently now suspected that _something_ was going on between them. And some of her classmates even questioned her about it, which is how she found out that many people really thought they should be dating.

It was why, as soon as the bell rang for lunch, she had gone up to the roof to be alone and to think. But now, all she could think about _was_ Maki-kun.

Folding her arms behind her head, she sighed as she watched the clouds passing by overhead. She was pretty sure she didn't like Maki-kun _that _way. But she kept thinking about him, because she was truly afraid that she had hurt him when she fell on him. Despite his reassurance, she worried that she might have done something that would affect his condition. She didn't know _what_ that might be, but the thought continued to persist, leaving her feeling anxious.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the pink clip and examined it. She hadn't thought much of it when she first found it, but she began to wonder if it belonged to Maki-kun. It _had_ been where they dropped their things that morning…and if anything, it gave her an excuse to go find him.

Just as she sat up, she heard the door leading to the roof abruptly swing open. She turned to see Maki-kun step outside, looking around with an uneasy expression on his face.

She frowned. "Maki-kun?"

He started at the sound of his name, but his face lit up slightly when he saw her. He hurried over to her, and she noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" she asked, rising to her feet as he stood in front of her.

He nodded, though his heavy breathing seemed to disprove that. He swallowed thickly, but couldn't seem to form the words to answer.

Overwhelmed with concern, she grabbed his wrist. "Maki-kun, you need to be more careful!" she chastised. "Here, rest for a minute." She had him sit down where she had been laying, sitting down next to him.

She watched as his body relaxed and he caught his breath after a moment, though the anxious expression never left his face. When she thought he was calm enough, she asked, "Is everything okay?"

At first, he remained silent as though unsure of what to say. Finally, he said in a soft voice, "I've been looking for you…"

She blinked. "For me?" she repeated.

He nodded, but while he looked as though he wanted to say more, he couldn't seem to find the right words.

Frowning a little, she looked down at her hands and suddenly remembered that she had been planning to look for him as well. "Maki-kun," she said, holding out the pink clip, "is this yours?"

Maki-kun's eyes suddenly brightened, the tense look on his pale face being replaced by relief as he picked up the clip with shaky fingers. "Yes," he replied softly.

"I found it this morning," she explained a little self-consciously, rubbing her arm. "It must have dropped when I accidentally knocked you over."

A smile grew across his face, and with a sigh he suddenly fell back.

She stiffened, worried that he had pushed himself too far and collapsed. But then seeing that his eyes were still opened, she relaxed, noting that he was only lying down on the roof as she had been earlier.

"This is actually why I was looking for you," Maki-kun said. "When I couldn't find this in my bag, I was hoping you might have seen it. But I didn't know where to find you."

Her eyes widened as realization quickly hit her, and she turned to face him. "Is that why you were so out of breath? Because you had been running around looking for me?"

He nodded. "I wasn't sure where you usually had lunch, so I checked the building. Then one of your friends said you had come up here."

Her hands covered her mouth, stifling her startled gasp. "Oh, Maki-kun, I'm sorry!"

He shook his head, the smile still on his face. "It's okay. I'm just glad you found this and held onto it. I don't know what I'd do if I lost it."

Still, she felt absolutely _terrible_ for making him run around looking for her. "I was planning to find you, actually, to see if it was yours, Maki-kun. If I had known it was so important to you, though, I would have looked for you right away instead of coming up here. But I just…" She glanced away, a little embarrassed. "I just wanted to get away for a little bit."

"Get away?" he repeated curiously. "From what?"

She sighed, leaning back to lie next to him and look up at the sky. "Just…all the gossip going around."

"What kind of gossip?"

She hesitated, thinking for a bit before glancing at him. "Have you heard any of the talk…about the two of us?"

He frowned, not understanding at first. But then something clicked and his eyes widened slightly. "Oh…about how you and I should date, or something like that?"

She nodded. "I mean, I knew my _friends_ thought that, because they always tease me about it. But I didn't realize that so many _other_ people thought so. And…" She sighed, averting her eyes. "I guess what happened this morning didn't help. Apparently, some people thought I fell on you on _purpose_."

Sho was quiet for a moment as he watched the clouds above. Then he turned his head to look at her. "So, what do _you_ think?"

She looked at him again. "What?"

"What do you think?" he repeated. He smiled in a way that she could only describe as mischievous. "Do you think you'd want to go out with me?"

She blinked with surprised eyes and a curious raised brow. She somehow had the impression that Maki-kun wasn't _really_ asking her out, but she thought it would still be better to answer him honestly. He _did _ask what she thought about it, after all.

So she considered it, thinking carefully about her words before answering, "I…I don't think so. I mean, you're nice and all…and I don't know, maybe it could happen _someday_. But…right now, I just can't see myself going out with…anyone, really. So it's not just you," she added hastily, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

He didn't seem to mind, though, and he nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "I don't think I'm ready to date anyone right now, either."

She frowned slightly. There was something about the way he said that…She knew it was really none of her business, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Is it because…you're already in love with someone?"

For a moment he didn't answer, but his eyes had a distant look as he seemed to think back on something fondly, and a gentle smile appeared on his face as he nodded.

She smiled a little as well; that explained why he turned down girls who wanted to go out with him. Her curiosity was suddenly getting the better of her, but she refrained from asking the name, at least, in case it was someone she knew. Instead, she asked, "Is it someone in your class?"

"No…she doesn't go here."

"Oh…" It would have been safe to ask for the name then, she realized. But even knowing that, she couldn't bring herself to ask. For some reason, she felt that it was something very personal, and she didn't want to pry. And seeing that Maki-kun was about to speak again anyway, she said nothing and simply listened.

"I met her one summer a few years ago," he explained, though he seemed to be talking more to himself than to her. "I had gone to stay in the house my mother grew up in, to get some rest before my heart operation."

She nodded. She knew about the operation, but she hadn't known that he had gone away before that. "Did she live nearby?" she wondered.

Maki-kun paused for a moment, then smiled. "Something like that," he said, though she could hear from the sound of his voice that there was a secret he was keeping.

She didn't ask about that, though, and instead glanced down and noticed that he was playing with the pink clip in his hand. "That's why that is so important to you…because you got it from her, right?"

He nodded. "She gave it to me before her family moved away, the day before my operation." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I only got to know her for a little while, but…but I know that it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't be here right now. I never would have gotten better without her."

She couldn't help the smile that played across her lips, and she closed her eyes as well. It was very sweet that he still loved that girl so much, even after all this time. "When do you think you'll see her again?"

He sighed softly. "Honestly, I… I don't think I'll _ever_ see her again. The last time I saw her was before her family moved away, and we were saying goodbye."

"She didn't tell you where she was moving to?"

He shook his head. "She didn't know herself. Her family just had to find someplace new to live."

She frowned; that didn't seem fair, and it was just so…so _sad_.

"Do you think it's weird?"

Turning to him slightly, she found him studying her. "What?"

"Is it weird?" he wondered. Without waiting for an answer, he looked at the sky again. "I've told that story before to a few others. And when they learn that I haven't seen her since, they all think I should forget about her and just move on. I guess I was just wondering if you also thought it was weird that I'm holding on to her memory this way."

With an angry pout, she turned onto her side to face him. "Of course not!" she retorted.

Surprised, he looked at her.

She met his eyes with an unwavering gaze. "You can't help that you still love her," she argued, upset on his behalf at those who said such things to him. "And even if you _do_ move on someday, you can't ever forget that you loved her. You _never_ forget something after it happens, even if you don't remember it…" Her voice trailed off as she paused, wondering why those words sounded so familiar.

Quickly shrugging the feeling off, she continued. "And you _shouldn't_ forget anyway. You should always hold on to the people who are important to you, because they helped you become the person you are now. They're part of who you are, so they'll _always_ be with you, no matter what."

He stared at her for a moment, and she blushed, suddenly embarrassed. Where had all _that_ come from?

But then he smiled gently, and she didn't feel as bad. "You're right," he said. "I always thought so, but no one has ever said that to me before."

She smiled, glad that he understood what she meant. Maybe the two of them did have more in common than she thought…

"So what about you?"

She looked at him curiously. "Huh?"

He returned her gaze, a seriousness in his curious expression. "Is it the same for you? Why you feel that you can't _be_ with anyone else right now? Is it because there is someone you love?"

She didn't know why her body tensed, or why her heart was suddenly racing. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat to deny his claim, to tell him that she had never been in love before…except for some reason she suddenly couldn't say for sure that she hadn't.

So she didn't answer, and instead sat up, fixing her hair as if it had been messed from lying down. She pulled out her beaded hair tie, fingering the purple band even as she fixed her ponytail. She always played with the hair tie whenever she felt nervous, though she couldn't explain why it comforted her so much.

She couldn't even remember how she got it, other than she had it ever since her family moved to town a few years ago. She was always surprised that it had lasted these past five years, but didn't mind. It was her favorite hair tie, and for some reason it was really important to her.

The chime of the warning bell echoed across campus, shattering the silence. She sat for a moment, looking at the school grounds behind the chain-link fence before turning to Maki-kun as he sat up.

"We should get to class," she murmured.

He nodded, and the two of them rose to their feet. Just as she was about to head for the door, however, he stopped her.

"I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you," he said softly.

She paused, thinking it over. Had it _really_ upset her? Then she shook her head. "No, it's okay. It just surprised me, I think. I'm fine."

He nodded, looking relieved.

And for some reason, that made her smile. Despite having known each other for a few years, this was the first time the two of them ever really talked…but after getting to know him a little better, she found that she didn't want this to be the _last_ time. "You know, Maki-kun…even if we're not going to be dating," she said a little playfully, "we can be friends, right?"

He returned the smile, looking very pleased by the idea…and for a moment, she wondered if he had been thinking the same thing. "I'd like that," he said. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he added, "You can call me Sho…if you want."

She blinked, taken aback. But then her smile returned, brighter than before, and she nodded.

The two of them headed back down the stairway together, a comfortable silence drifting over them as they considered the vital change occurring between them. As they reached their floor and were about to part ways, Sho said, "Since we're going to be friends now…would you like to do something after school with me?"

She paused to think; though she knew people would talk if they saw them spending time together, she found that she couldn't bring herself to care anymore. She nodded. "Yeah, sure!"

He smiled. "Okay. I'll see you after school then, Ogino-san."

She caught his arm before he could walk away and grinned at him. "You can call me Chihiro."

**The End**

Eheheh...yeah...so, this is also under the assumption that Chihiro doesn't remember the events that happened in _Spirited __Away_, though the memories are still there. Like I said, random idea that popped into my head after seeing _Arrietty_. But for some reason I thought that Sho and Chihiro would get along, given the bittersweet endings of their respective movies (even if Chihiro doesn't remember it all yet, haha).

So...yeah...I also consider this kind of a pre-romance, haha...ahem...Hope you liked it!


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